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By HVnews on March 2, 2011

All that fuss over the TSA invasive patdowns has had literally no positive effect on screening. With babies getting frisked and grandmothers removing their orthopedic shoes, one would think that the TSA would have vigilance down to a science. Turns out, they don’t.

A major TSA breach grounded a flight on its way from JFK to the Dominican Republic on Saturday evening when a flight attendant discovered three box cutters in a passenger’s carry-on luggage. According to The New York Post exclusive:

The incident happened at around 10 p.m. Saturday as factory worker Eusebio D. Peraltalajara, 45, of Jersey City waltzed past the screeners on his way to a Dominican Republic-bound flight, the sources said. Agent Ahmir Wilkerson, supervisor Anthony DeJesus and at least one other screener allowed his carry-on luggage — with the boxcutters with razor blades — to pass through the X-ray machine, police sources said. Once aboard Santiago-bound Flight 837, flight attendant Fausto Penaloda, 40, asked him to stow his luggage in the overhead storage bin. As Peraltalajara’s shoved it into the compartment, Penaloda saw the boxcutters fall out of the bag, according to a police report. He grabbed the boxcutters and alerted the captain and first officer.

They called JetBlue security, which raised the alarm to PAPD Emergency Service Units, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI, sparking an evacuation of the plane’s 136 passengers and five crew members.

It seems Peraltalajara simply forgot to remove the box cutters from his bag. After the waterboarding worked its magic and the truth was spilled, Peraltalajara was not charged with any crime and was released from custody. Now, where were we…back to the strip searches.